Joshua first reported on Lawrence Summers’ words here.
I’d read about the hysterical shrieking that ensued from Summers’ controversial speech, but had written it off as the typical ultra-feminist codswallop passing itself as “Women’s Studies” in academia:
Nancy Hopkins, a biologist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, walked out on Summers’ talk, saying later that if she hadn’t left, ”I would’ve either blacked out or thrown up.”
Which is pretty amazing, when you think about it. Can we record Summers’ words and use them to break up riots by inducing unconsciousness and/or vomiting? Anyway, Arnold Kling explains why Summers wasn’t necessarily wrong, and that we should listen to him. It’s admittedly anecdotal, but interesting nonetheless:
My sense is that women find male-dominance behavior annoying. They particularly dislike being treated as “irrelevants” during meetings. I can understand their point of view. I avoid the American Economic Association meetings, in part because I am sickened by the flattery and the Show Off/Put Down. Above all, being treated as an “irrelevant” rather than as a fellow human being by people you once thought of as friends and colleagues is a highly discouraging experience.
So to Lawrence Summers’ list of possible reasons that women are under-represented in some fields, let me add annoying male-dominance behavior. To the extent that one must put up with or join in such behavior to succeed in largely-male fields, I could see where otherwise qualified women might not have the taste for it.
There’s more to the issue than meets the eye. Whatever your outlook on Summers’ speech, fainting and puking seems to be the least reasonable reaction to it.
(Thanks to Instapundit for the pointer.)
Is there a reason you are defending the actions of yet another pig pushing patriarchy, one who is responsible for the hiring and firing of women?
Yes, there is.
The idea of living in a patriarchal society that subjugates women gives me a woody the size of a sequoia. Unlike some people that simply live in such a society without thinking about it, I actually ENJOY it. I also believe in the right of private firearm ownership because it helps me to compensate for a perceived lack of masculinity, despite the aforementioned cyclopean size of my wingwang.
That’s why I joined the Republican party: to keep women in their place. As we all know, that place is barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.
Now make me a sandwich, bitch. I’m hungry. Go on, now! Shake it.
As for “blacking out or throwing up,” I’d like to point out that this is exactly how Jimi hendrix died. He blacked out. AND THEN, he threw up. He choked on his own vomit and died that way. The woman who left Summers’ speech was right to leave in that she could have died just like Jimi Hendrix did. For that action of self-preservation, I applaud her.
Stay on topic: we’re talking about the patriarchy and my wingwang. Both are of vital importance.